This invention relates to an apparatus for applying a lining of refractory material, cement, heat-insulating material or other insulating materials over the refractory layers of a converter or a furnace including electric furnace and open-hearth or a vessel with great mobility.
In conventional lining operations, the lining material is generally produced at a location remote from the lining operation site and then is transferred to the operation site by means of a long compression supply tube wherein the long floor-laid tube hampers the movement of the lining device when it must move from one converter to another, resulting in an inefficient lining operation.
Furthermore, since the water storage tank, refractory material tank, compressor and the like which are required in the lining operation occupy a large floor area, the operation cannot be conducted efficiently or with adequate mobility.
In addition, these devices are usually located in spaced apart locations so that a central control system for the spraying apparatus is hard to achieve. Therefore, at least several workers are required to operate the apparatus.
Meanwhile, in the lining operation, the lining apparatus is moved to a position adjacent to the upper open end of the furnace. Subsequently, the long spray pipe is extended into the furnace and the spray nozzle attached to the extremity of the spray pipe is directed toward the abraded or eroded portion of the furnace lining and the desired amount of refractory material is sprayed onto the above portion so as to repair the lining of a furnace.
In this case, the operator controls the spray pipe while observing the movement thereof.
However, the mere manipulation of the spray pipe is often inadequate to insure coverage of all of the abraded portions on the furnace lining because they are not all within the sprayable range of the spray pipe.
For example, as shown in FIG. 59, when the spray nozzle is directed from one abraded portion to another, in some cases the spray pipe will come into contact with the upper periphery of the furnace if the lining apparatus is kept in the same position. In these cases, the apparatus as a whole must be moved a certain distance to prevent breaking the spray pipe. The operation to move the apparatus conventionally requires that the operator get off the apparatus or shift his position on the apparatus thereby making the operation very cumbersome.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for applying a lining onto the inner surface of a furnace which overcomes the aforementioned disadvantages and which is capable of conducting the lining operation with great mobility.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for applying a lining onto the inner surface of a furnace wherein all the required devices for the spraying operation are mounted on the transport car of the apparatus so that the apparatus becomes extremely compact, requiring little operating space.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for applying a lining onto the inner surface of a furnace and includes a central control system with which an operator can manipulate all the devices mounted on the transport car easily and precisely.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for repairing the lining of a furnace by means of which the entire spraying operation including the manipulation of the spray pipe as well as the steering of the transport car can be conducted by a single operator while sitting on the seat mounted on the apparatus throughout the spraying operation.
The lining apparatus of this invention which is particularly useful in repairing the lining of a converter furnace, an open-hearth furnace or the like is substantially constructed as follows.
The steering seat on which an operator sits to control the spray pipe as well as the lining device per se is fixedly secured to a rotatable means on a turntable mounted on the lining car.
A lining device for facilitating the operation to repair the furnace lining is mounted on a transport car. The power-supply devices, such as the internal combustion engine and compressors, are also mounted on the transport car to activate the lining device and move the spray pipe as well as the transport car. The lining device substantially comprises a turntable which is mounted on the transport car and is capable of turning approximately 360.degree., a double storage tank arrangement which consists of a tank for storing the powder-like material and a tank for storing water, a spray pipe of a telescopic construction which is moved away from or toward the inside of a furnace and a steering seat which may be secured to either the refractory material storage tank or to the water storage tank.
To be more specific, the spray pipe consists of inner and outer spray pipes, the outer shooting pipe being rotatably supported by and within a guide (cylindrical) body which, in turn, is tiltably mounted on the top of a vertical support column fixedly mounted on the transport car.
A gear mechanism is provided between the support column and the cylindrical body which facilitates the approximately full-turn rotation of the spray pipe relative to the cylindrical body.
A tilting means such as a hydraulic cylinder is disposed between the cylindrical body and the turntable such that the tilting means causes the rocking movement of the spray pipe with the top end of the support column serving as the fulcrum.
Furthermore, the spray pipe may comprise inner and outer concentric pipes and a first pipe-propelling means and a second pipe-propelling means wherein the former means causes the sliding movement of the inner spray pipe relative to the outer spray pipe and the latter means causes the sliding movement of the outer spray pipe relative to the cylindrical body. The spray pipe is connected with the refractory-material storage tank and the water storage tank by means of a flexible hose. The above-mentioned steering seat is provided with a control panel which enables control of the lining device.
Corresponding to the rotation of the turntable, the steering seat is rotated together with the refractory material storage tank as well as the water storage tank and can change its position relative to the transport car while the transport car is moving.
The apparatus with the above construction conducts the operation to repair the furnace as follows:
An operator seated in the steering seat moves and steers the apparatus on which the water and refractory-material storage tanks are mounted, to a desired position adjacent to a furnace. Subsequently, by manipulating the control panel near the steering seat, the turntable is rotated until the spray pipe is directed toward the tapping opening of the furnace. The spray pipe is then extended into the furnace and is tilted by tilting means, rotated by rotating means or turned by the turntable so as to direct the spray nozzle attached to the extremity thereof to an abraded or eroded portion of the furnace lining for application of the refractory material thereto.
The refractory material in either dry or wet slurry form is supplied into the spray pipe and the thus charged refractory material is sprayed from the spray nozzle and is applied onto the above-mentioned portion of the furnace lining which requires repair.
In a dry spraying operation, the water is added to the refractory material at any place between the storage tank and the spray nozzle while in wet spraying operation, the refractory material in wet slurry form is stored in the storage tank from the beginning and the intermediate water supply is unnecessary.
In this way, the apparatus of this invention is most effectively operable when the spray pipe (the spray nozzle) must be shifted from one abraded portion to another after completing the repair of the former portion. Namely, refering to FIG. 59, when the second abraded portion is to be repaired after the repair of the first abraded portion, mere rotation of the shooting pipe will not prevent it from contacting the peripheral opening of the furnace. However, since the lining apparatus is provided with the above-described construction, the operator seated in the steering seat can move the transport car in the desired direction while simultaneously manipulating the spray pipe so that the refractory material can be readily applied to all the abraded portions of the furnace lining, resulting in a highly effective repair operation.